Powered by a strong economy and a flood of new models, U.S. auto sales are poised to grow for the first time in four years -- possibly to record

levels -- economists for the Detroit automakers said Jan. 6. But prominent Wall Street experts said they are skeptical that rising sales will make the automakers significantly more profitable or better companies to invest in, according to the Detroit Free Press.

How much sales actually rise will mostly be a function of incentives and other price cutting, as well as robust economic growth that is expected to be the fastest since Ronald Reagan passed tax cuts as he ran for re-election in 1984, according to the Free Press. "We're in a boom," said Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, Ford Motor Co. economist, at the Society of Automotive

Analysts' 16th-annual outlook conference at the Renaissance Center.

Even though Detroit automakers are introducing record numbers of vehicles, they may struggle to earn much more money, said Scott Sprinzen, lead

auto analyst at credit rating agency Standard & Poor's Corp. "It's certainly not a foregone conclusion that all of that new product will

boost profitability," he said.

The hard truth is that the global auto industry is fiercely competitive and heading for the kind of Darwinian consolidation that family-owned and Fortune 500 parts-makers have come to know all too well, said turnaround expert Jay Alix. "It's an economic war of attrition," he said, according to the Free Press. Those who long for the good old days of Detroit dominance are wasting their time, Alix said.

Automakers, often called original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs, are going to keep demanding steep price cuts and top quality from the suppliers, and only the best will survive, according to the Free Press.